Strange It May Seem
by GoodGurl
Summary: Chapter 4 is up - Titled: Happy Life (ratings may change) Miine finds out about the Sohma secret and just when things are just going crazy, Miine's 'husband' shows up and wants her back! An AyameMiine love story! Please rr! Thank you!
1. Golden Eyes

Note: Hi all! The story that dear SeraphAngel-chan wrote about Ayame and Miine really inspired me to write something of the same thing! Well, obviously not the SAME plot and all, but with the coupling of Ayame and Miine! So, this is my first shot on an Ayame and Miine story! Please be gentle! ^_^ Oh yeah BEWARE of OOC Ayame and Miine and seriousness in this fic!  
  
Strange It May Seem   
  
Chapter 1 - Golden Eyes   
  
It was late in the afternoon and rather hot. The summer heat was itching its way around her body, making her feel exhausted. If she didn't leave the heat soon, she was going to pass out. Kuramae Miine walked through the park, carrying a large, brown paper bag in her arms. With one swift move, she swiped her arm on her forehead, wiping away the beads of sweat that formed around her eyes and nose, carefully lifting her glasses up to clean away the heat from her face. 'Perfect timing, Miine to be buying groceries on a hot summer day,' she thought. The brown haired girl, only twenty (Note: I dunno, I'm guessing her age), quickly walked across the small street and approached the apartment building, where she lived in on the second floor. She sighed, feeling the air conditioner brushing her hair once she entered the front entrance. Being old and rusted, the air conditioner blew once, then died again. Miine walked pass it without disappointment, feeling relieved that she was able to get rid of the heat from the slight air that came out of the machine, though not completely. She made it in front of her door, without passing out and unlocked it. As usual, she was welcomed by her cat, Akina, her short, fur rubbing against her leg the moment Miine stepped inside. Akina, a one year old siamese kitten, followed her to the kitchen to put away the groceries she bought. She was just removing the orange juice from the bag, desperate for something cold to drink, when her phone rang unexpectedly. Miine went to the living room, her phone standing on her small coffee table and answered the phone before the third ring rang out.  
  
"Moshi moshi?" she spoke.  
  
"Ah, yokata! You're home Miine!" came a desperate sounding voice on the other line. "I tried calling you before, but no one answered. I need you here right now!" She could hear excitement in his voice, but Miine wasn't sure if it was that.   
  
"Tencho! What is it?" Miine, after almost trying not to pass out from the heat felt her eyes widen in alarm. She has never heard her tencho this desperate or excited before. She picked up a small piece of paper and, without bothering to find out what it was, began fanning herself with it, no matter how small air was coming out of it. Summer this year, was the hottest out of the other years here in Japan.   
  
"No time to explain, just get here! Oh, I am so excited Miine! We got a lot of work to do in our hands!" Before Miine could ask anymore, he had hung up the phone. Sighing and turning back around towards the kitchen, trying not to stumble when Akina got in her way, she quickly put away all her groceries in their right cupboards. She quickly poured orange juice on a glass and drank it quickly, before putting it away in the refrigerator. Without bothering to change into her work uniform, since it was supposed to be her day off and since it was too hot anyway, she walked out of her apartment, locking the door before she left and made her way towards the store. She fixed her white dress, revealing her clean shaven legs to all the people that she walked by and was unaware of the stares men were giving her. Miine didn't care much. She was set on one goal and one goal only and that was to help her tencho anyway she can.  
  
**********************************  
  
"Ah, not there!" With a desperate attempt to keep the store running and convenient for the customers, he was ready to hire anyone who walked by the store and wasn't planning on buying anything- all of which were women. One girl, one who didn't know the difference between left and right was starting to irritate him, but before he could tell her off with a kind gesture, he heard the front door opening and a very familiar woman with round glasses and curly brown hair enter. "Miine! I'm so glad you're here!" He approached her, trying to hold the willingness of wanting to hug her so much because of her presence and smiled. Miine smiled in return, but he couldn't quite let go of the feeling that Miine didn't look well. "Miine, daijoubou?"  
  
Miine smiled her best smile and nodded. "Hai!" It was even hotter in this room, but she knew better than to tell her tencho to turn up the air conditioner more. Ayame Sohma had trouble coping with the cold and Miine did not dare to ask why. For years, she never questioned him. He was kind enough to lend her work when she needed it the most and she did not want to jeopardize that. "I'll be all right, tencho. What-" Before she could ask, a man in his early twenties bumped his way through the door that was blocking and approached Ayame standing behind the counter. Miine just watched.  
  
"Yes, I would also like this hemmed as well," the man spoke.  
  
Ayame smiled and nodded. "Hai!" He glanced at Miine. "Come, Miine! We need to start work now!"  
  
Forgetting that she was not supposed to be working today, Miine went to the counter, while at the same time, watched the dark haired man leave the store without acknowledging her. No longer could take the patience, Miine glanced at her tencho and eyed him curiously. "What's going on? Who was that man?"  
  
Careful not to hug her, Ayame grabbed her arms and started bouncing up the down. Miine just went along with his excitement, the questions still running in her mind, waiting for Ayame to answer her question. "He is the owner of the club downtown! Somehow, he found out about my store and wants to purchase as many as we have and more if we make more!"   
  
"What club, tencho?" She didn't need to ask that question, because she knew already what he was going to say. She knew she'd seen the man before. He was the same man she met her first day working for that club. Miine never told Ayame, but she used to work there as the custome designer for the drag contestants they held every summer. The name of that club was-  
  
"Ringo Club!" He let go of her arm and jumped up and down, clapping his hands excitedly. "Yosh! Let's start working on it!" He grabbed her hand and led her in the back of the store, where stacks of papers were stacked together on a table. Fabric was everywhere, all with different types, silk, satin, cotton, on another table opposite to where the ordered forms were stacked and some were strewn on the floor. Miine was still thinking about that man, wondering why he never recognized her, when Ayame's loud voice startled her once again. "Miine! So, what do you think? These are the fabrics Ringo-san chose for the contestants next month."  
  
"Next- month?" Miine's eyes widened. She had forgotten that every summer, the contest was held every July. The woman smiled when she noticed Ayame's desperate face and nodded. "Don't worry, tencho! I'll get working on it right away!"  
  
Without thinking, Ayame, thankful for her generosity, wrapped his arms around her smaller and shorter form and pulled her in for an embrace. Water fell from his eyes dramatically and he scrunched his face in a sad manner. "Arigatou, Miine!" he said excitedly, before clouds of smoke engulfed them. Miine didn't know what happened then, after getting the mysterious smoke that appeared out of nowhere away from her view, her tencho disappeared out of sight. She looked down and found his pink-red robe, the one he usually wore everytime he went to work and the white pants made of silk, were on the floor. She looked around curiously, wondering where Ayame went off to. "Tencho?" she called. She walked around the counter, unaware that something small and white quickly edged its way past her and towards the back room.   
  
"Um...Miine, could you please pass me my clothes on the floor?" a voice spoke from the back room.  
  
Startled, Miine jerked her head up to the room. "Nani?"  
  
"The clothes on the floor, could you pass them to me please?" he repeated.  
  
Miine, without bothering to ask him what happened, despite the questions running through her mind about the incident just now, picked up Ayame's clothes from the ground and slowly walked to the back room. She was shocked to find him standing there, his back to her, nude, his long flowing, white hair untied behind his back, which now reached up to his...Miine quickly took her eyes away, blushing. Yes, she has worked with this man for years now and never has she seen him in THAT form before. She knew he was beautiful, even far more beautiful than the models she sees on television. Keeping her head turned away from Ayame, Miine handed him the clothes, which he took gently and stepped out of the room. There was still questions running in her mind about what happened. Where did that smoke come from? How did her tencho end up in the back room?   
  
"You can look now, Miine, I'm decent," came Ayame's voice from behind. Miine jumped and turned around to face him. His golden eyes were no longer holding that ernest expression, nor did his voice keep that excited tone that defined Ayame Sohma. He had on his serious mask and his voice was as low as ever, turning into a more cold tone.   
  
"Tencho...what- what happened?" Miine asked, brushing away the thoughts of Ayame Sohma being serious and cold.  
  
Ayame walked pass her, without a word, then turned around, his face now back to normal. He smiled at her, his hands clasped behind him. "Whatever you saw Miine, it was a trick I did, which I learned from one of my cousins," he lied, trying to make a straight face. He knew that if Miine found his snake form slithering across the room, he was in big trouble and he couldn't take the chance facing Akito and face Hatori of having to erase the memory of yet another person. He knew better than to give Hatori a hard time, what with his experience with his first love and all.   
  
The front door opened once again, to reveal someone they didn't expect to see. Tohru and Kyo walked in, Kyo with his angry face and Tohru, with her smiling once. Ayame spread his arms wide open and smiled at his customers. "Ah, Tohru-kun! Kyon-kichi! It's a surprise to see you here!"  
  
Tohru smiled and waved, while Kyo just turned his face away, taking a deep breath. Ayame could tell the orange haired cat was trying to hold his temper because Tohru was there. It was interesting to see Kyo 'calm' for once, without him having to blow up everytime he called the teen 'kyon-kichi.' It made him wonder, however, why he was here in the first place. "Kyon-kichi, why are you here, anyway?"  
  
Tohru was the one to reply for Kyo. "Kyo-kun wanted to see the store too!" They approached the counter together. Tohru noticed Miine-san standing there, her eyes searching Ayame. She didn't know what happened between them, but she chose to close her mouth. "Konnichiwa, Miine-san!"  
  
Miine stepped away from her stupor and looked up, replacing her curios expression into a smile. She joined Ayame behind the counter. "Konnichiwa, Tohru-chan!" She felt more sweat from the heat dropping down at the side of her face, which she quickly wiped away with her forearm.  
  
Ayame raised his hand to introduce the orange haired teen to his wonderful assistant. "Miine, this is my cousin, Kyon-kichi!" he said.  
  
"Hello, Kyon-kichi!" She raised her hand for a greeting. The orange haired teen shook her hand back and said, "Actually, it's Kyo, my name's not Kyon-kichi," he explained as calm as possible, taking a swift glare towards Ayame. The white haired man just grinned. Miine nodded, smiling. "Hai, Kyo-san. Konnichiwa!"   
  
"Tohru-kun! Where is Yuki-kun?" Ayame asked, looking over the two teenager's shoulders, hoping to see his younger brother behind them.   
  
"He had to do some things after school," Kyo explain briefly. He grimaced at the thought of standing up for the baka rat!   
  
Ayame rested his chin on his hands and frowned dramatically. "Really?" He sighed. "I wished I was a better brother to him!" Dreamy eyes began to form on his face and the white haired man stayed like that, with his chin rested on his folded hands, until Kyo cleared his throat to break the silence. Ayame blinked and opened his eyes again. "Was I daydreaming again? Hm..." He glanced at something behind him. Tohru and Kyo both turned to where he was looking at and noticed a single and simple white dress with red swirls around it perched on a seat near the window. Ayame went to it and picked it up. "Miine! We got work to do! What do you think, Tohru? What should I do with this dress?" He showed the white dress to Tohru. Tohru blinked and thought for a moment of what to say. She was interrupted, when Ayame spoke again. "Miine! You think this dress goes with green or blue sweater?"  
  
"Green! Red and green always go together, ne Tencho?" Miine replied quickly.  
  
"How about we try it on Kyon-kichi?" Ayame replied. He turned to Kyo, who was beginning to feel nervous. "Ne, Kyon-kichi? What do you think?"  
  
Kyo backed away and glanced at Tohru for help. Before the girl could figure out a way out for Kyo to be humiliated, Miine and Ayame were already there in front of him, with the dress in hand. "Since you have orange hair, red definitely goes with you!"  
  
"Yes, definitely!" Miine replied, clasping her hands in front of her, smiling.   
  
They both took another step, cornering Kyo in the counter. "Or maybe if we add orange to it as well and make it red and orange, it would go for both the shade of your hair AND the actual color of your hair!" Ayame replied, shoving the dress on him. Kyo struggled, but before he had a chance to release himself from the torture, the dress was suddenly on him. Miine and Ayame stood back and glanced at each other. "Ne, Miine? I think it suits him well, don't you think?"  
  
Kyo glanced at Tohru for help.  
  
"Ano...Ayame-san? Miine-san?" Tohru said with her small voice.  
  
Both the two, who were named, 'eccentric' turned themselves around Tohru, unaware that Kyo magically escaped from the dress and moved as quickly as possible to Tohru's side. Kyo grabbed Tohru's hand and began walking away, towards the entrance. "It was nice meeting you, Miine-san, but we remembered we had homework, so we're gonna go now. Ja!" With that said, Kyo dragged Tohru out the door, never to be seen again.  
  
"I think he LIKED the dress, Miine!" Ayame spoke, going back around behind the counter. "Ah!" He snapped his fingers happily and walked to the counter. "I think we better start working on the dresses!"  
  
Miine nodded and joined him on the table in the back room. They both seated themselves across from each other, each taking a fabric in their hand and began working their magic in matching the colors of the fabric and planning out on what types of dresses the contestants would go for. Ayame and Miine worked all night, glad that no more customers were coming in, asking to make dresses for them (well for Miine anyway).   
  
"Ah! I think we lost track of time, Miine! We better close the shop and get on home," Ayame replied, standing up and stretching.   
  
Miine looked up, entranced with the essence of the fabric in her hands, while she worked. "Is it that time already, Ayame-san?" she asked, calling him by the name she rarely used. She glanced at her watch and read that it was already ten past ten. The brown haired girl fixed her round glasses on her nose and smiled up at Ayame. "I am not tired, tencho, but if you are, then you can go on home ahead of me and I can lock up for you after I finish the sleeve of this dress!" She stared into Ayame's odd, golden eyes and was surprised when she noticed his concerned look. Never in a million years has Ayame been worried about her. Ayame worried mostly about himself and would, rather dramatically of course, cry about why he was so 'beautiful' in everyone's eyes and everyone would get jealous of that.   
  
"Are you sure?" asked Ayame, with uncertainty in his voice. "I would gladly stay behind and help you."  
  
"Iiee, tencho, I have so many ideas working on this dress and I would rather be the one finishing it. Don't worry, I won't stay up long!" She gave him a reassuring smile.   
  
Ayame was still unsure, but when he noticed the determination in her eyes, the white haired man couldn't help but be proud of that. Nodding, he picked up his things and turned around, taking another swift glance behind him to make sure she was all right, as if she was going to disappear from his sight and left the building quietly, making sure his noise wouldn't lose Miine's concentration. He couldn't bare to lose her. Not even one bit. She was as important to the store as she was to him. She was the most valuable person in the store. She had the knack for every fashion, knew the right colors and knew what not to wear everytime he asked how the clothes looked on him. Miine listened when he complained about Yuki and was always there when he needed her. Ayame blinked and pasued just in the corner of a street. He remembered now that their birthdays were nearby. It was a coincidence that both their birthdays were only a day apart. Ayame wanted to give something 'special' to her this time, with all the hard work she's been giving the store. He figured she needed something she can ACTUALLY use and keep, instead of giving her another necklace, which broke everytime she used it. Miie would apologize when she did and Ayame promised her that he would get something else. Yet, every year, he broke his promise. Miine was either hurt and kept the feelings all to herself or wasn't offended by it at all, because she would rather make him happy than anyone else. He shrugged, brushing the thought away. Ayame skipped happily down the street and headed back home to Sohma family estate, thinking about all the money they were going to earn once the dresses were finished.  
  
*****************************  
  
She had lied.   
  
Ayame glanced at his watch. It was already seven in the morning, yet Miine Kuramae was still inside the store, her head resting on the table sleepily, her eyes closed in a dream. Small fabric was strewn on the floor, all with different collages of color and her arms were propped up on the table, one hand holding a needle sticking up and the other holding the same fabric she was working on last night. He was impressed with the work she has done with the dress from last night. She had finished the right sleeve she was working on last night and was already starting on the left one. Ayame noticed her glasses folded on the table. He smiled and leaned down. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Miine!" he spoke in her ear.  
  
Miine sprang up, startled by the voice, her hair all disheveled and glanced up at Ayame, who was, as usual, smiling. "Oh! Tencho! I..." She looked around sleepily on the work in front of her. Ayame had no idea that Miine was quite pretty without her glasses.   
  
"Did you work all night, Miine? Why didn't you tell me?" Ayame moved in front of her, examining her face curiously.  
  
"I was going to...I mean, I closed the store if you were wondering but I..." she stopped short, when Ayame held up his hand to shush her. He walked up the girl and kneeled down, taking her hands in his large once. Miine looked down, curious about where he was going with this, while at the same time, admiring how smooth his hands were.   
  
"Miine..." His face was serious for a while, then it broke into fits of sadness. Large drops of tears crept from his eyes and he began to weep dramatically. "OH! MIINE! YOU ARE SO KIND! YOU WANT TO MAKE THIS BEAUTIFUL STORE SUCCESSFUL!" He cleared his throat, noticing the way Miine was flinching when he screamed and decided to tone his voice down. "Gomen nasai, Miine."  
  
Miine shook her head. "It's all right, Ayame-san! I would do anything for tencho!"  
  
Ayame cried even more, resting his head on her lap. "OOOh! Miine! I'm so glad I hired you!"  
  
"Ohayo!" came a familiar voice.   
  
The white haired man suddenly sprang up, his face suddenly returning back to his normal and unusual self. "Ah! That sounds like Gure-san!" He helped Miine on her feet, who was still tired from last night and walked to the front counter, with his assistant following behind. The moment she entered, Shigure, a man whom she met only once, was curious about how he was looking at her. His eyes widened for a minute and his pupils grew even larger at the sight of her.  
  
"Ah, Aya! Were you cheating on me!" Shigure pretended to frown, nodding his head at the the girl with no glasses.  
  
Ayame glanced over his shoulder at Miine, then back at his cousin. "Oh, of course not, Gure-san! Never in a million years!"   
  
Both men ran to each other, much to Miine's confusion and lifted up her hands to fix her glasses, but when she did, it wasn't there. She had forgotten that she removed her glasses when she started to feel sleepy last night. She wanted to go back and get her glasses, but before she could, Ayame had his hand on her shoulder, turning her around to make her face Shigure. "Doesn't she look kawaii without her glasses, Shigure?"  
  
Miine blushed. Did Ayame-san just compliment her? She looked up, Ayame's cousin, Shigure examining her.  
  
"Hai, hai! She's much cuter with that white dress she has on!" Shigure's eyes travelled from her face and all over body. Miine blushed an even beet red.   
  
Ayame looked at her as well and stared. Miine looked down, not wanting to show both the men, who were staring at her for the longest time, how flushed she was. She had noticed that the red coloring on her face had already reached her neckline. Miine knew if she stopped flushing, they would certainly see where the blush led to. After what seemed like an hour of staring, Ayame and Shigure tore their eyes away from her and looked at each other again to continue their conversation they had last night. Ayame had told Shigure about what happened yesterday at the store, about how Ayame 'accidentally' hugged Miine and turned into a snake. "You're lucky you didn't get caught, Aya," Shigure spoke quietly. He looked over his cousin's shoulder and noticed that Miine wasn't there. With a sigh of relief, Shigure looked into his cousin's eyes and leaned closer to him. "What are you going to do if she finds out about your secret?"  
  
Ayame shrugged. He had no answer to that question. If Akito DID find out about him transforming in front of her, then he would immediately send Hatori to remove her memories. That would mean, Miine would forget everything about the store and about him. Ayame would lose the most valuable person in the store.   
  
Seconds after, Miine trudged back into the front desk, putting her thick, round glasses back on her face. She was unaware of a roll of tape that laid on the floor, that the girl, startled about the item on the floor, thinking it was something else and was tripping forward. She wanted to reach for something to hang on to and the only thing close enough in front of her was Ayame. Miine yelped and wrapped her arms around him. Her glasses fell off her nose and the last thing she remembered was falling on the floor, without any broken bones. Miine opened her eyes, her vision still blurred, but could still see what was in front of her.  
  
"Oh dear, isn't this a wonderful predicament," hummed Shigure, watching as Miine backed away, apologizing to her tencho about her clumsiness. She felt her glasses on the floor as she backed as far away as she could behind the wall and put her glasses back on. "And here it is," Miine heard Shigure say again. She didn't know what he meant as she squinted her eyes, feeling the vision coming back to her and jumped when something white and small was staring at her. Miine felt her spine tingle.   
  
"Na-nani?" She stared into its familiar, golden eyes. "Are- are you...?"  
  
The snake felt his sweatdrop. He turnned his head and glanced up at Shigure. "Gure-san, can you please carry me up on the counter?"  
  
Shigure kneeled down, picked up the talking snake, while Miine stared, shocked and confused and put the snake on the counter, just as it said.   
  
"You...you..." Miine couldn't believe her eyes. Is that really... HIM?  
  
"Hai, hai!" Ayame replied, not bothering to let Miine finish her question. He grinned. "Gure-san, oh, what on earth am I going to tell her now?"  
  
Shigure whispered something in his ear.   
  
"Oh! Hai!" Ayame turned his head back at Miine, who was slowly getting up. "You see, Miine, I am a snake and our family, the Sohma, have the Jyunishi curse. I turn into a snake whenever someone of the opposite sex embraces me. You see... Oh Miine! How bad of a man I am!" Ayame cried dramatically, his face turning into a pretend frown. Of course, he didn't want anyone to know that he was definitely sorry for lying to Miine all these months. Now all he's going to expect from her is a face of revulsion of knowing that her tencho turned into a tiny little snake.   
  
Miine didn't say anything for a while, until Shigure cleared his throat to snap her out of her reverie. The girl looked back up, both man and snake looking at her. "I... I think I better get working on that dress again, tencho!" Miine spoke finally, putting her smile back on. A snake, huh? she thought. So, she wasn't dreaming when Ayame suddenly disappeared when the white haired man hugged her out of impulse and then appeared again in the back room instead. She glanced over her shoulder. The snake was gone and was replaced once again by the same man she knew and admired.   
  
"Is there something you need for me to do, Miine?" came Ayame's voice once again. "Don't I have a lovely body?" Ayame moved from side to side, with his back to her, careful not to show her more than he intended. He wanted to tease her, make her see that she wasn't dreaming.   
  
Miine jumped and blinked. She has been staring at Ayame's body for a long time that she hadn't noticed Ayame's cousin staring at her amusingly. The girl turned away and went back into the room.  
  
"What are you going to do now, Aya?" Shigure asked, after Miine disappeared behind the room.   
  
Ayame sighed, his shoulders sagging. "I guess I have to talk to her, ne, Gure-san?" He glanced at Shigure, who was handing him the clothes. Ayame quickly changed back into them and sighed. "Well, right now, we don't have time for that. We have to continue with the dresses Ringo-san was asking for!" He turned and pushed Shigure out the door. "Gomen, Gure-san! Until then, we will meet next time!"   
  
Shigure nodded and smiled. "Don't forget me, Aya!"  
  
"How can I forget?" Ayame grinned. With that said, Shigure turned and walked away, leaving Ayame to stand alone. He turned the sign on the door to 'closed' and went back to the counter, picking up some important things he needed to make the dresses he started on yesterday. He stopped and glanced at the door where Miine had disappeared to. Huffing, Ayame thought about what to say to Miine. Would she be able to understand?  
  
GoodGurl: Woo! Finished! I hope you like! I know that Ayame is out of character and so is Miine, but I think (for me) that it's important that once in a while, Miine and Ayame have those serious moments. So, what do you think? I was just guessing with their ages. It's been a long time since I saw Fruits Basket and I'm just guessing with their birthdays too and to make the plot more interesting, I was thinking of having their birthdays just a day apart so to make the story going. ^_^ Anyway, what now? How will Ayame explain to Miine? How does Miine feel about this? I mean, come on, he has been secretive about him being cursed all these months yet, the dear kind Miine, chose not to ask and of course she chose not to ask after that 'incident.' Stay tuned! 


	2. Miine's Secret

Note: Hi all! Oh, I am sooooo excited that there's people that love Ayame-Miine fics! Yeay! Thank you for those who reviewed, I appreciate it! ^_^ I wish I could capture Ayame and Miine in their real personalities, but for me, I like to change their character for a minute in order to make them be more...you know, interesting. All I know so far that Ayame is a drama 'queen,' extremely hyper and flirts with Shigure A LOT. For him, I wanted to put more emphasis that Ayame CAN get serious at times, even the most tragic things, I mean I myself can get REALLY hyper around people, but like with one person that you can trust or when you're alone, you can't help but be serious around them. I made Ayame worry about Miine to show that Ayame truly does care for his assistant as more than just as an assistant, but as a friend. As for Miine, we barely see much of her, so all we see from the outside, is a hyper Miine, and eccentric Miine when it comes to Ayame and fashion. So, why can't I capture the sad part of Miine? She's soft spoken and has the same personality as Ayame (almost), yet there's something about her that made her work with Ayame and there's something about her that makes her talk so soft that makes me want to write what she thinks in her head. After all, this IS a dramatic fic, so people gots to be serious at some points, yet humorous in other points. Anyway, enough with my chit chat and ooon with the story! ^_^ ENJOY! Oh yeah BEWARE of more OOCness and seriousness! HAH! HAH!  
  
Chapter 2 - Miine's Secret  
  
The heat was becoming more unbearable and so was the silence that ensued for the last couple of days between Miine and her tencho. Learning of the incident that happened a few days ago, forced Tohru, Kyo and Yuki (though after hesitation) to go to the store and 'visit' Miine and Ayame- when really they were there to mend the awkwardness between the store's owner and his assistant. Shigure also visited, mostly to talk to Ayame and to remind him that Akito has no idea that Miine knows about the Jyunishi curse. This made Ayame feel better, however, he was still feeling worried about Miine's feelings with all this. At times, he was relieved that Miine was kind to him and was still acting like the same Miine he has known for a long time, but on other times, he felt unsure what his assistant was thinking every time she was alone in her apartment or at the back room working on the dresses.   
  
"Ne, Miine, what do you think of this color on me?" Ayame spoke suddenly, his voice hyper as ever. Miine looked up, her face turning into a kind smile and examined the dress Ayame was now wearing. She put down the needle and the dress she was working on and stood up. She thought for a while, brushing the thought about what she experienced just last week with her tencho and put her hands on his shoulders.  
  
"It's the perfect color on you, tencho," she replied. The dress was rather unusual in style. It was like made in the 1800s of what men used to wear. The shoulders were puffy and it didn't seem like it looked like a dress, but more of a long, red tunic in golden decor. "Though, there is something missing." She backed away and looked at him from top to bottom, but there was DEFINITELY something missing in this picture. Miine snapped her fingers, realizing something. She took Ayame's hand and pulled the chair across from the table, out. "Sit here, Ayame-san."  
  
The white haired man obediently sat, curiously watching her quietly. Miine produced something from her pig tails and unravelled a beautiful elastic band made of fake stones, but still beautiful. She moved behind Ayame and grabbed a handful of white hair, then began braiding it neatly.   
  
They were silent for a while, both still thinking about what happened between them.   
  
"Miine! How are you? We've been so busy with Ringo-san's dresses lately that we haven't been able to talk at all! I miss you!" Ayame felt her hand brush his neck and he shivered. Something about her touch made him tingle. Sure, she braided his hair a lot of times, but never THIS awkward. Before they chatted about the 'in styles' amd such, while Miine quietly listened to him talk about himself, mumbling how much of a 'bad brother' he was to Yuki, when their conversation turned from fashion to the Sohma family. Right now, Ayame felt compelled to mention the Sohma family, figuring Miine wa still shocked about his secret.  
  
"I miss you too, tencho," the assistant replied quietly. When she reached the end of the braid, Miine tied the elastic around the tip and backed up to oberve her handy work.  
  
Ayame stood up and turned around, slowly facing her. "How do I look now?" he asked, smiling.  
  
"Kawaii!" Miine smiled back, clasping her hands in front of her in excitement. She didn't want to show her uneasiness around him. After all, if she did, how will Ayame react? He might even fire her!  
  
Ayame spun on his spot and began dancing around the room, fluttering his eyelashes. "I knew I was beautiful!"  
  
Miine couldn't help but laugh. She couldn't quite remember the last time she laughed after running away from a family who didn't want her. She felt like an orphan again, but Ayame made her see that she had a family... with him.  
  
The white haired man must have noticed the rarity of her expression, when he suddenly stopped to look at her. He smiled excitedly and grabbed her hand. Miine went along and they began dancing around the small room. "Oh, Miine! I feel even more beautiful when you laugh like that!" He heard the bell of the front door ring, announcing someone had entered the store. He glanced at his assistant. "Yosh! We have a customer!"  
  
Miine nodded and quickly followed Ayame out the door. The customer, a man in his early twenties and straight, blond eyes, was startled when the two approached him with stars in their eyes.  
  
"A customer!"  
  
"Great!"  
  
"Green eyes-"  
  
"Goes with blue! Bright blue color!"  
  
The man felt sweat drop around his forehead. "Uh... ano..." He winced nervously when the woman pressed a bright blue wedding dress, then shook her head and went to the counter to grab another dress. While she was gone, the tall man pressed another pair of clothing, which was a pink shirt and a baby blue miniskirt. "Ah yes!" he yelped, smiling widely.  
  
"Pink and blue!" came the woman's voice.  
  
"Perfect!" the white haired man said.  
  
"Excuse me..." But the blond haired man was cut off when another customer, the same one who came a few days ago, entered the store. Both the white haired man and the brown haired woman tore their eyes away from the blond and focused their attention on the dark haired man familiar to them.  
  
"Irasshaimase (welcome), Ringo-san!" Ayame greeted, walking over to the counter.  
  
Miine watched quietly as the man walked pass her. He paused in the middle of the room, glanced at her, before joining the store owner at the counter. "Ah! Irasshaimase, konnichiwa Ringo...san..." Miine bowed, even when the man ignored her. Without caring, she tended back to the blond and poured more dresses on him, pretending not to see the man waiting in the counter as Ayame fetched the few finished dresses Ringo asked for. He put them all in his arms, thanked Ayame as well as telling him that he was coming back for the other half in three weeks and left the store, quickly glancing at Miine before driving away in his car.  
  
"Miine! How are you doing with the customer there?" Ayame spoke outloud from the counter.  
  
The girl snapped her head up at Ayame, smiling. "Hai! I think he has made his choice!"  
  
"Na-nani!?" the man yelped, shaking his head vigorously. He waved his hand frantically as a sign of protest.  
  
"I think he's a bit shy though," Miine said.  
  
"Eh?" Ayame joined his assistant in the middle of the room and stared at the blond, grinning. He wrapped an arm around his shoulder, his grin getting wider. "I see. We have someone who is afraid to get out, huh?"  
  
The man felt more beads of sweat dripping from his face. "Iiee! I am now..."  
  
Ayame moved his face so that he was cheek to cheek with the man, his expression turning into a seductive approach. He ran a soft hand on the blonde's hair. "Come on, don't be shy!"  
  
Miine watched on, smiling politely.  
  
"IIEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the blond yelled, slapping Ayame's hand away from him. He ran out, screaming. Behind him, he left a familiar looking item that looked like a camera.   
  
"Sayonara!" Ayame yelled after the man, even though he was out of ear shot.  
  
Miine volunteered to pick up the item from the groun and handed it to Ayame, who shook his head. The white haired man sighed dramatically. "Ne, Miine!" He put a hand on his forehead, pretending to faint. "I am too weak to see such a camera that makes my face look concorted. Although, I would like to see how it turned out when he took pictures of beautiful me, behind that tree in front of the store." He took the camera from Miine and rewounded the film. When it finished, he handed the roll of film to Miine and tossed the camera in the garbage can. "Maybe there's a beautiful picture of kawaii me in there!"  
  
Miine nodded. "Hai!" She turned and walked out, surprised by Ayame's keen eyes, though she knew it must be the snake in him that gave him the ability. She chose not to think anymore as she left the store and headed down the street, passing several buildings before she reached her destination. Akira Flash was packed when Miine stepped inside. The girl joined the long line of people lined up patiently in front of the only person available by the counter. Behind her, she heard the door open and heard two pairs of footsteps entering, both, she knew, were men. She was a very observant woman in the months she has become Ayame's assistant. When the many who have walked inside the store to purchase dresses, Miine had gotten used to listening to the type of shoes men wore and pin pointed the exact sound each types of shoes made. She miled at herself and as she fixed her glasses on her nose, she sighed and waited some more, until finally, after two seconds or so, the line moved.  
  
"What do you mean, they know?" the voice behind her spoke quietly.  
  
"I mean they know! I lost the camera, proving something about the guy that he is one of the cursed jyunishi family!"  
  
Jyunishi? Miine listened on. The two voices were VERY familiar. Coult it be!? The girl took a deep breath, telling herself to calm down, then listened on.  
  
"Don't worry," said another voice, deeper than the other one. "That camera was cheap anyway. We can get another one." He sighed. "Honestly, you baka! Why did you run away when all he was doing was teasing you? And he is a snake I tell you! I think he knew all along that you were behind that tree."  
  
The other voice huffed. "Well, you could've told me that, then I would have taken a snake repellant gadget with me!"  
  
She heard a slap, then the smaller voice mumbling something.  
  
"But do you have the other roll from before with you?" the deeper voice asked, after a second of silence.  
  
Miine heard someone fishing through his pocket.  
  
"Got it here!"  
  
"Good, give it to me!"  
  
Miine frowned, knowing that the roll of film could cause the end of Ayame's business. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. The girl jumped, but did not turn around to find out whose hand it was. She knew all along that the voices she's been hearing was RIngo and the blond haired man earlier.  
  
"You're lucky that I'm nice enough to let you go today..." She felt a hot breath tickler her ears. "Miine..."  
  
"Next please!" said the cashier behind the counter, breaking the uneasiness around Miine. She stepped forward, turning her expression into a smile and handed the roll of film to the red haired girl tending to the films. "Arigatou!" she said. She wrote something on a piece of paper, while Miine kept glancing behind her at Ringo, with his face lifting into an evil smile. "May I ask for your name please?" Miine snapped back into reality at the young girl.  
  
"Kuramae Miine," she replied simply. She watched as the girl wrote her name in kanji on the same paper and removed clear paper from behind it. She pressed the bottom of the paper on top of the roll, went to the back counter and put it inside the cupboard. The girl came back moments later. "That will be fourteen eighteen pleae, for a total of twenty five shots produced in an hour."  
  
Miine nodded and reached inside her pocket, which turned out to be empty. She moved her hand to her other pocket, but with no such luck. The brunette glanced up at the girl, smiling. "Dear me, I must have forgotten the-" but before she could fiish her sentence, someone slapped a hand on the counter. Miine looked up at Ringo, who took one swift glance at the woman, before saying, "Here's forty yuen, for the payment for the lovely lady here, adding the roll of film I have." He produced the roll of film Miine figured was the roll the two men talked about and handed it to the girl.  
  
"Name please?"  
  
"Ishida Ringo," the man said. "I'm her husband," he announced suddenly.  
  
Confused, the girl glanced at Miine, wondering if what the man said was true. The brunette said nothing and slowly nodded. Without another word, the girl went to the same counter at the back and placed the second roll of film beside the other. Miine, knowing her job was done, turned and walked away, not even glancing at the man who claimed to ber her 'husband.' Seconds later, Miine was finally out of the stuffy room and into the fresh, afternoon air, outside. She was hoping to lose Ishida Ringo, but he had caught up to her, stopping the surprised girl.   
  
"Aren't you even going to say hello to your husband, Miine?" Ringo walked in front of her, lifting his arms to stop the girl from walking.  
  
Miine took a deep breath. Just when she was about to lose her memories of the past, HE had to show up back in her life. She wore her best smile, lifting up a finger and playfully thought for a moment. "Hm... I can't say I know you, sir! You must be mistaken me for someone else. Thank you for helping me just now, though, but I better go..." She walked pass him, brushing Ringo's face out of her mind. However, the dark haired man had pulled her back, by grabbing her arm and forcing her to face him.   
  
"Are you going to walk away from me again, Miine? We are still married after all." He lifted her chin up with his finger and stared through her thick glasses, into her green eyes (Note: Was it green? I can't remember the color of her eyes ^_^; Gomen, if I'm wrong). The once quiet, shy girl he knew had disappeared, to be replaced by a confident and happy young woman, with so much spirit in her eyes that he couldn't understand why. He can almost see her smiling, which she never did for him. Ringo had no idea who she was the first time he entered the white haired man's store and when he came back the second time, he remembered the sixteen year old girl whom he married, but seemed quite different. All these years, he never knew she could smile so much. He regretted of ever letting her go. "Why do you work at that place, Miine? You can work with me and we can make lost of money together." He moved his head closer to her. "It is because you love your tencho?"  
  
Miine gave a smile and nodded. "Hai! I love my tencho! He cares for me and likes the way I handle the job as his assistant, that's why I work at that store. Unlike you, he gives me the freedom to voice my opinion on fashion."  
  
Surprised by her confidence, Ringo removed his hand from her chin and backed away. Miine continued to smile as she walked pass him without another word. She quickly glanced over her shoulder and felt relief when the man didn't follow her this time. When she glanced over her shoulder the second time, he was already gone.  
  
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Ayame paced around the room, anxiously waiting for his assistant to return. It has been twenty minutes since she's gone and the white haired man, knowing that Miine was capable of being inependent, couldn't help but wonder what was taking her so long. She was never late for anything, not even to simple errands he gave her. He glanced out the window and could almost kiss her out of relief when he noticed her crossing the street. The white haired man stepped out and smiled, flipping his braided hair in the warm, sunlight. Brushing the worries away, he waited until she made it back to the front of the store. He had so much to tell her. "Miine! I was wondering what took you so long! Have I got great news!" Ayame grabbed her hand and dragged her back inside.  
  
"Nani?" Miine asked, her heart suddenly pounding in excitement. She really enjoyed surprises, especially when the word 'good news,' came out of her tencho's mouth.  
  
When they were inside, Ayame took a deep breath, letting go of the girl's hand and planted his fists on his hips. He turned his head to the side and stared into the 'sunset,' dreamilly. "My beautiful face will be in the front page of next week's issue of Rainbow Monthly!"  
  
Miine's eyes widened. "Really?" She grinned and when Ayame nodded, her grin grew wider. "Tencho!!!" Happy for her dear tencho, she wrapped her arms around him into a tight hug, forgetting about the white haired man's transformation. However, before she realized it, Ayame shrunk and was seconds later buried underneath his clothes. "Tencho! Gomen nasai! Gomen nasai! What- what do I do?" What was she supposed to do in this situation? Miine had no idea how to turn him back. She was too panicked to remember that Ayame changed back into his normal self after a couple of minutes or so. "Don't worry Tencho, I'll help you!" With his clothes, including the snake Ayame gathered in her arms, Miine ran out, hoping to find some kind of animal hospital or pet store in an attempt to change him back. Ayame was too dazed from her tight grip earlier to stop her from taking him outside, before he changed back into a man - nude in the street. Miine ran around, but found nothing that could help him. When Ayame was back from unconsciousness, the snake felt beads nervous sweat when he found themselves in front of a pet hospital that Miine frantically looked for.  
  
"Miine! What are you doing!?"  
  
"I'm helping you, tencho!"  
  
"Iiee! Bring me back to the store right now!" He knew he was being harsh on his assistant, but imagining himself inside that pet hospital, while being gropped by men and women alike in white hospital robes, made him quiver in panic.   
  
"Demo-"  
  
"Now!" Miine blinked. She has never heard Ayame snap at her before. If he did, it would be humorous, not serious. Nodding, she pivoted back to the way she came from and ran back to the direction of the store, which was unattended at the moment.   
  
"MIINE!"   
  
Startled by his voice, Miine stopped and looked down at the snake awkwardly.  
  
"Forget it! We don't have time. Just take me in there!" The snake pointed his head behind her. The girl looked over her shoulder at an empty alley way.  
  
With only a few seconds before he changed back, Miine ran inside and before she could put him down, smoke filled the area and Ayame was back to normal. He found himself being carried in Miine's freakishly strong arms.  
  
"Yo!" Ayame said, lifting up his hand to wave. He grinned at her.  
  
Miine's eyes widened. Blushing, she suddenly dropped the naked Ayame on the ground and quickly looked away. "Gomen nasai, tencho!"  
  
Ayame laughed and shook his head, rubbing his butt with his hand from the impact of the ground. "Miine, I have not seen you blushing so much these last few days! Is it because you JUST noticed how beautiful I really am?" He stood up and leaned down to pick up his clothes from the floor. He grimaed at their condition. His tunic was now filled with muck from the dirty garbage can beside him. His pants and underwear were no longer accessible to wear in his eyes. All of them were torn from the sides, the thread sticking out at the side. "Oh my, this is a problem!" he announced, grinning. "It seems my clothes are no longer available. Oh well, I might as well wear it anyway, even if it smells." He quickly changed, trying not to breathe in the smell that has soaked his clothes. "Let's get back! Our customers must be wondering where we've gone."  
  
Miine took a while to register his words in her head. Her thoughts were still on Ayame. It was until Ayame called her name did she snap out of her reverie and followed him back to the store.  
  
Unbeknowenst to them however, that a pair of green eyes and expensive camera, replacing the cheap one that was thrown into the garbage, was watching the whole thing- from the time Ayame Sohma changed into a snake and back again.  
  
Satisfied, Ringo Ishida closed the lid of his panasonic and watched the two enter the store from afar, grinning until he no longer could. "This will hit the front page most definitely, Jou! Ayame Sohma will lose his business and Miine will soon be mine!"  
  
"Why exactly are we doing this, Ishida-san?" A blond head popped up beside him. Jou felt something hard hit his head. He rubbed the back of his head gently, mumbling some curses to Ringo. "Ouch! Nani-o!?" he complained.  
  
"Baka! Haven't you been listening to what I said? We're doing this to bring the Sohma family down, especially that Ayame! Because of him, I'm running out of business!" He glanced to the corner where the pair disappeared and smiled evilly. "Now, it's my turn..." He clenched his fists tightly. "Ayame Sohma..."  
  
GoodGurl: Short, but still getting good, ne? ^_^ Well when I wrote it out on lined paper, I was able to fill up seven pages, some front to back and some just front. But obviously, when it's typed out on a piece on computer, it gets different results, ne? ^_^; Anyway, so what is Ringo Ishide up to? o_O Will his plan work or will it backfire? Stay tuned! Arigatou gozaimasu for everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it! ^_^ 


	3. Ayame The Snake

GoodGurl: Hey where are all the Ayame-Miine fans out there? I thought there were a lot? :( Awwww! Onegai! Someone please review! I want reviews! I know it's selfish but....ONEGAI! ^_^;  
  
Chapter 3 - Ayame The Snake  
  
Strange. It was really strange. Miine couldn't continue on a day without glancing at her tencho once in a while, when he wasn't looking. It was the first time she has ever felt awkward around him and the first time she was unable to argue about what style was in or out just like the time she first met Tohru and Yuki. Miine, for once, was speechless with the news of her tencho turning into a snake. At first she thought it was a dream- but dreams were impossible to repeat three times, especially when she knew she was awake.  
  
"Miine?" Ayame stared at her, worried. He wished there was something he could do, but of course everything he could do was keep himself less serious.   
  
"Hai, tencho?" Miine responded. She looked up and was surprised to find herself staring into Ayame's golden eyes. For the first time, she saw something in them that were quite different from the Ayame she has known a long time. What changed? Whey were they both feeling awkward around each other? Miine kenw the answer and she guess that Ayame knew it too.  
  
It was Ayame the snake.  
  
Suddenly, for no reason at all, Ayame threw his head back and began laughing. He didn't know why, but there was something humorous about the situation they were in. He could still see himself nude in Miine's oddly strong arms. Laughing, was of course contagious. Miine joined her tencho in a joyous giggle. Her laughter, soft and abrupt, rang along with Ayame's loud and contagious fits of merriment. Miine, put a hand on her stomach that was beginning to ache from the chuckles that had no reason of being there. She knew there was no reason for her to be worried. Ayame was still the same tencho she knew and she knew that being a snake must be harder for him that it was for her.  
  
She stopped, the laughter dying away, only to be replaced by a kind smile as she watched tears of laughter fall from Ayame's eyes. "Tencho... when did this curse begin?"  
  
As if slapped in the face, Ayame's own sound of laughter faded. He looked at her, his eyes turning into slits. The white haired man, wanting to break the awkwardness between them, just laughed. He stood up and stared into nothingness dramatically. Entranced by the beauty he possesed, as if no woman could ever compete with it, Miine swore she saw a bright spotlight that shone briefly over him.  
  
"The curse..." He thought for a minute. Even he was unsure what the answer was. For as long as he could remember, him, Yuki and every member of the Sohma family in his generation were born with the same curse that took place from the time their great ancestors lived (which was a thousand years ago). His parents never told him how it happened and if he kept asking, he could get punished for it. Neither of his other cousins dared to ask their parents about the curse. They have grown up to life with it, no matter how much it pained them. Ayame, for the longest time, chose not to think about it. He didn't want to think about the possible horrible things their Sohma ancestors did in the past that led to this curse. Having the curse since they were bornled to the breakups in the Sohma household. Born with the spirit of the jyunishi snake, his instincts as an older brother to his born mouse-spirit younger brother, faded. He turned away when Yuki needed him. At that point, Yuki must have already figured it out that Ayame had nothing to do with his little brother. The white haired man regretted of ever turning the other way when Yuki needed him the most.  
  
Miine continued to stare at him. She wanted so much to comfort him. She knew Ayame was probably thinking about his brother again. The girl wanted to embrace him in her arms- anything to to make him feel better, but it was impossible now. She always thought it was possible, at least to have his arms around his comforting shoulders so he could lay his head on hers. Miine wanted to be his best friend- the only one who understood him and the only one who could fill the one empty hole in his heart as a result from the curse. Was it really possible for an assistant and her tencho to become best friends? Before she could answer her own question, she felt something warm on her lap. Miine looked down and found him on his knees, his hands rested on her lap, while he laid his head on top of them - the same position he had the first time he mentioned his brother to her. She sat silently, watching him. Ayame just laid there, with his eyes closed, thinking how warm Miine was.  
  
"Ayame-san..." she whispered.  
  
The white haired man looked up, hearing the soft tone in Mine's voice, when she called him by his first name. Gently, the girl lifted up a hand to Ayame's cheek for the first time and stared warmly into his eyes. "Ayame-san, you shouldn't have to regret anything what you did, because that is all in the past. What's important is that you're doing your best now to mend the broken relationship you have with your brother. Just be glad that he is not turning his face away when you call out to him."  
  
Ayame smiled slightly, still doubtful. When he was about to tell her that he did just the opposite when Yuki turned to him, Miine's other hand moved to press against his other cheek, which stopped the man from speaking.  
  
"Yuki knows that you regretted the things you did to him in the past. All you have to do now is accept his forgiveness. He might not show it, but even you know it's there, despite his actions."  
  
Her words. They were like music to his ears. This was the first time she has spoken genuinely about anything before. She would just sit there, while he complained about his life (which was mostly about Yuki) and just listened. Ayame never knew how much knowledge Miine had and when she did, her voice made him feel better. Just hearing it made his heart sore. Without thinking, he stood up slightly, just enough so he was leveled with Miine and leaned his face closer to her.  
  
"T-tencho? Nan-!" Miine gasped. His lips against her had stopped the words that came out of her mouth. It was as if time had stopped just long enough to feel Ayame's warm lips against hers. None of them knew what to do at that point. Both had no experience in kissing anyone. Miine never let Ringo kiss her anywhere other than the back of her hand.  
  
As if in a long trance, Ayame broke away from the kiss first and backed away. "G- gomen nasai, Miine..." He stood up suddenly, turned and left the room quietly.  
  
Miine sat there, shocked by what just happened. She placed a finger on her lips, the warmth of Ayame's lips still lingering there. Realizing it was no dream, Miine suddenly blushed a beet red.  
  
***********************************************  
What was he thinking? She was his assistant for goodness sakes! Shaking the incident that happened earlier from his head, Ayame greeted the customers who dropped by to check out the items they had in his usual, hyper active personality. There was no point in him worrying about it now, or it will even get worse just by thinking about it. Though it was hard getting rid of the thought of someone's lips against his own, especially when her face kept popping into his head. Ayame has never felt this way before, not even towards Miine - whom he hired as his assistant. What changed? Is it because she knows of his secret that he felt he needed to be closer to her and talk about his snake self to her other than Tohru and his family? Yes, it's true, but why did he kiss her? Was it out of impulse because his hormones were acting up again or did he feel something more towards Miine? True, in high school he had these feelings to some women in his class, but they usually ignored him, because they probably thought he was really gay. He was often found hanging around Shigure and Hatori wearing girls' clothes. And his constant flirting with Gure-san must have added the suspicion from his classmates that he was indeed...gay. However, he never thought they would misjudge him and think him as a homosexual. When he met Miine, she did not think of him as gay, nor did she even make rude comments about the clothes he was wearing, maybe only when he was wearing clothes that were 'out of date.' Their conversation then, did not go beyond to the point that Ayame dreaded the most in conversations... which was the issue of him (as a guy) wearing women's clothing. Miine was understanding about wearing feminine attire and agreed that they were indeed, "comfortable." Then, when she started working with him, they quickly became friends. People often thought they were married, because they argued a lot, but it was not the type of fight that ended up in breakups later. The argument (though mostly about fashion) was friendly- an act of mutual understanding for each other. Like his reflection, Miine agreed to everything he thought about certain products from Gap to Tokyo Fad and sometimes disagreed.  
  
"Oi!" Ayame blinked, the thoughts finally clearing away from his head and looked up at the sound of Kyo's familiar voice. Kyo, Tohru and Yuki all stared at him. Tohru, being the one to worry too much about Ayame's constant daydreaming in the last couple of days, stared at him, disturbed by his changes.  
  
"Daijoubu desu-ka, Ayame-san?" Tohru asked.  
  
"Nani?" Ayame glanced at his brother. For the first time, Yuki was concerned for his older brother. The white haired man waved his hand at them. "Oh!" He chuckled. "I'm fine, Tohru-kun, Kyonkichi and Yuki-kun! I was just thinking..." He paused, which raised more questions from the trio. Even Kyo turned his head, wondering what was up, instead of blowing his temper about his nickname. Frantically searching for his head mentally to erase the curiosity growing in the trio's eyes and grinned as wide as he could. "Well, I was just thinking about my... PICTURE IN THE FRONT PAGE OF RAINBOW MONTHLY!" He put his fists on his hips and looked into the horizon, though for Yuki and Kyo, all they saw was a wall. Tohru was too engulfed with Ayame's news that she clasped her hands behind her and smiled, happy for the white haired man.  
  
"Sugoi, Ayame-san! You're going to be in a magazine?"  
  
"HAI!" Ayame lifted up one arm and proudly looked into the sky dramatically.   
  
Dark cloud hovered over Yuki. "Rainbow Monthly? Isn't that a gay magazine?" Yuki asked, folding his arms across his chest coldly.  
  
Kyo made a strange look at Yuki, pursing his lips together. Tohru felt large beads of sweat fell at the sides of her face. She had forgotten about Yuki's thoughts about Ayame's 'lifestyle.'  
  
"Hai, Yuki-kun! My beautiful face will be admired all over Japan - men and women alike!" Ayame replied proudly.  
  
Yuki's face colored even darker.  
  
A moment later, they heard the back door open and Miine stepped out. As usual, she wore her maid costume, her hair in two braided pigtails and round thick glases, covering her glimmering, green eyes. She has her usual expression - a very contagious smile that Tohru often found 'kawaii!' "I thought I heard familiar voices! Konnichiwa, Tohru-chan, Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun!"  
  
"Miine!" Ayame spoke, turning his head to look at her. "I was just telling them about my picture in the front page of Rainbow Monthly!"  
  
Miine smiled and nodded. She was actually listening the whole time she was in the back room, while at the same time trying to concentrate on her work. "Suteki-da ne? (Isn't it wonderful). My tencho, in the front page of a popular magazine!" Miine clasped her hands in front of her and rested her arms on the counter.   
  
"Popular...?" Yuki spoke quietly.  
  
More sweat fell from the side of Tohru's face. Yuki and Ayame's relationship will never progress unless they stop talking about Ayame and his 'life' as the manager of a clothing store. It seems Miine noticed Tohru's anxiety, that she grabbed her hand and began pulling her out of everyone else's sight. "Ne, Tohru-chan! I want to show you some clothes that I want you to try on! You too, Kyo-kun!" On their way to the back room, she grabbed the oranger haired teen's hand and dragged both of them away from the brothers.   
  
"D-demo..." Tohru glanced over her shoulder, worried that if she wasn't there, Yuki might end up beating Ayame to the pulp or something.   
  
"Oi! Matte! Nani-o!?" Kyo yelped, trying to pull himself away from the clerk's grasp, but her grip grew tighter when he did. "Itai! You're gripping too hard!"  
  
"Kyo, I made some dresses of your size, why don't you try some on too?" Miine suggested.  
  
The orange haired teen grimaced. "Itai! I said you're gripping too hard!"  
  
Tohru grimaced. Miine was INDEED gripping their arms too hard. When they were inside the room, both Tohru and Kyo were relieved when the woman finally let go. They both rubbed their wrists to get the feeling back. Miine closed the door quickly and leaned her ear against the door.   
  
"What the hell was that about!? Why are we here?" Kyo complained.  
  
"Kyo-kun... daijoubu," came Tohru's soft voice.   
  
Kyo glanced at the long haired girl, lifting an eyebrow curiously. "Nani?"  
  
Miine glanced at the orange haired teen and smiled. "Gomen nasai, Kyo-kun! I had to get you out of there. It must be obvious for Yuki by now on why I keep dragging Tohru at the back room. Yuki needs to be alone with his oniisan."  
  
********************************  
He stared at his white haired brother. Folding his arms across his chest, he turned away and stared at some pictures Ayame took of the models that he hired to model for the clothes he made. Indeed, just as Miine mentioned before on his recent visits that there were models of both sexes. Some even wore their right clothes. A man with short brown hair modeled a very attractive black suit and a tie that went with his blue eyes. Yuki's eyes traveled from the picture at the corner of a woman dressed in the same maid suit as Miine wore to a picture of Ayame's clerk herself. He wasn't sure if it was her, because her hair was down, but the glasses was a dead giveaway that it was in fact, Miine Kuramae, smiling at the camera, wearing a very glamorous and revealing dress. No one could have noticed it was Miine if they didn't look close enough, but Yuki, seeing the girl lately these last few weeks, knew it was her. He wondered if Ayame put her picture above everyone else's for a reason.  
  
"You know she can have such a talent for beauty! I was thinking of giving her something special for her birthday." He stood up and approached the picture. Ayame stared at the picture for a moment, wondering why he never saw closely to the picture before. This was the first time he has actually looked closely enough to notice how attractive Miine was. He smiled at himself, which posed a curious look from Yuki's face. The teenager just watched his brother as he sat on the couch. Ayame turned around and smiled. "Ah! It's hard to find something special to give Miine! What do you give Tohru-kun on her birthday, Yuki-kun?"  
  
Yuki looked away. Was he supposed to answer that. "I... I don't know. I give her anything and she accepts it. Why do you ask, 'ni-san?" He looked back at his brother, wondering what caused these many questions from him.  
  
Ayame shook his head and laughed. "Nevermind! I was just curious that's all!" He sat back down on the seat across from Yuki and folded his leg over the other and smiled, staring at his brother.   
  
After a while, Miine came out, along with Tohru and Kyo. Both men looked up, surprised that none of them had changed into the clothes Miine had asked them to try on. Yuki snickered at the thought of Kyo wearing a wedding dress that Ayame wore, which he, unfortunately showed Yuki. The grey haired youth shuddered at that memory. He stood up and nodded at his two companions. He turned back towards Ayame and nodded as well.   
  
"Well, we better go. Shigure must be wondering where we've gone. I have to take an early sleep today anyway. Ja, 'ni-san..." Kyo and Tohru joined his side seconds later. He glanced at Miine and waved good bye to her as well. "Ja ne, Miine-san."  
  
"Ja ne, Yuki-kun, Tohru-kun, Kyo-kun!" Miine replied.  
  
"Oyasumi nasai, Kyo-kun!" Ayame said, waving his hand as the three left the building, once again, leaving him alone with Miine. "Well! We should get working on those dresses, ne?" He smiled at Miine.  
  
Miine nodded. "Hai!"  
  
************************************  
Tohru suddenly giggled, startling both boys as they walked in the sidewalk back towards Shigure's house. "What's your problem!?" Kyo hissed, worried that Tohru had gone insane- laughing for no reason. Yuki just glanced her curiously, obviously sharing the same thought as Kyo.  
  
The girl clasped her hands behind her and began skipping down the street with the two boys walking by her side. "Kyo-kun, you were leaving the room by the time Miine-chan told me this. She is planning on having a surprised birthday party for Ayame-san next weekend. And then I began thinking..."  
  
"Nani?" Yuki asked, getting interested on where this was going.  
  
"I was thinking that we should do something for them BOTH! Like take them out to the hot springs that same weekend she's giving Ayame-san the surprise party! It will surely surprise Ayame-san AND Miine-chan!"  
  
"Keh!" Kyo just said, folding his arms across his chest. Though, he didn't think it was a bad idea. In fact, it was the best idea Tohru has ever planned up. He didn't know Miine that much, but he guessed the girl and his tencho needed time to relax- away from their store.  
  
Yuki nodded slowly. Was it really a good idea? Did she mean ALL of them spend there too if they were going to 'take' them there? He wasn't sure if he would be able to stand it, spending the whole weekend with his brother in the next room, or rather... in the same room as him.   
  
"What do you think, Yuki-kun? Kyo-kun?"  
  
Both boys looked at her. It was hard to resist Tohru's desperate eyes. Kyo turned away, blushing, confirming his agreement to her idea. Yuki smiled and nodded. "That is a good idea, Honda-san!"  
  
"Yokata! I thought you weren't going to agree to this, Yuki-kun! Since... you know... ALL of us are going to be with them that weekend. I mean, not all of us of course, just those are able to come."  
  
"Keh! That would be almost everyone in the family household, baka! Our family likes it in the hot springs, especially when the hot springs are owned by Ritsu's mother."  
  
"Hai!" Tohru spoke, remembering that now. Well, it couldn't hurt to have everyone come! It was, after all... a surprise party. The only problem was... reachng Miine's own family. She doesn't even know where her family lived. Maybe she can ask Ayame-san. Nodding to herself (confirming her decision to ask Ayame), she skipped down the street, followed by the two boys towards home.  
  
***********************************  
  
Ayame stayed up that night, still thinking about that kiss him and Miine shared. He tossed and turned, trying to go to sleep, but couldn't. It was already three o'clock in the morning and he has to work the next day. If he didn't sleep soon, he would only have two hours of sleep before he has to go to work again. He needed the sleep so he and Miine can work harder on the clothes Ringo was asking for. He tried closing his eyes, but his mind kept coming back to Miine's face. Why was he suddenly thinking about her? Was he really lonely? He wasn't lonely. After all, he had Gure-san and Tori-san and the rest of his family. Why should he suddenly feel lonely after that kiss?   
  
The white haired man tossed in his bed once again. Sighing, unable to handle it any longer, he got up from bed and walked to the window. The moon was really beautiful tonight, but when he looked at it, all he saw was a pair of green eyes. Ayame shook his head and looked away, trying to find another thing to focus on, but everytime he did, he found her image on the couch, on the bed, and even in the kitchen. Her smile was simply introxicating. "Mou... what's wrong with me?" Deciding what to do to get rid of his thoughts of Miine, Ayame went back to the kitchen and prepared a cup of tea. A cup of tea usually put him to sleep, but as he poured the tea into his cup after it has been heated up, he suddenly didn't feel like drinking the tea anymore. He never had trouble sleeping, except maybe when he was excited about something, but he was able to sleep then. It was different this time. He couldn't sleep at all!   
  
Ayame sat in the dining room, staring at the untouched tea in front of him and thought about things to do tomorrow, but, just like before, her face would keep popping up into his head. He slammed his head gently down on the table and sighed. He suddenly lifted up his head again and thought about calling Miine. If he didn't resolve this soon, it will continue to eat him up.  
  
  
****************************************  
  
The white haired man wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep that night. A young woman, turning twenty one in a few days was sitting alone in the kitchen as well, unknown to both of them that she too drank tea so she could go to sleep. Miine stretched and yawned. Akina jumped on the counter and purred, rubbing her head against her arm that was propped up on the table. Normally Miine didn't like Akina on top of the table, but at that moment, she was too tired to think, too busy thinking about what had happened this afternoon that kept her from sleeping. She could still feel her tencho's lips against hers. Akina rubbed her head again, this time, against Miine's face. The girl shook her head and pushed her out of the way. "Stop it, Akina..."   
  
As if the cat heard, Akina got off the table and left. Miine rested her chin on her hands and sighed. Why was Ayame acting like nothing happened? Then again, he didn't expect the kiss to happen and he didn't want anyone else to know. Though, Miine couldn't help but wonder what he was hiding from her. Was it the rest of his family? Would they disapprove if he did something that was unlike Ayame? She didn't know much about his family. He mentioned a lot more about Yuki, Kyo and Shigure. He mentioned Yuki and Kyo forming a love triangle with Tohru, because both boys, unfortunately were in love with her. Ayame talked to her about Shigure, about how he was irritating the editor because he wouldn't continue on with his adult writing. Ayame talked about Hatsuharu, or Haru for short, Kisa, Hiro and Kagura. Hatori was also mentioned, telling her about his love Kana, but never really told her why they broke up.   
  
Miine sighed again. She put away the unfinished tea and went back to bed, deciding on just laying there and trying her best to sleep, but as she did, her eyes were still open and her mind kept popping back, but this time, it was no longer back to the kiss. It was the thought of Ringo and his 'plan' to get rid of Ayame's business. The young woman's heart suddenly pounded. She has to do something about Ringo Ishida or else Ayame Sohma will lose his business for good. Miine thought about Ringo and the time she met him. She was only sixteen when she did. He was nineteen. He had a crush on her, but she never did. She loved fashion more than him and when he started having feelings more than just a crush, Ringo Ishida grew obessive over her. He called her every night, asking how she was, no matter how late it was. Miine was too shy and too softspoken to tell him off and she admits that she was glad that someone at least called her. And when the obsession became more troublesome, Miine began feeling uncomfortable. One night, she told him off, but Ringo kept on forcing himself into the household. Miine knew at once that Ringo's obsession was not for her, but for the family. He was trying to force his way into the Kuramae family, for the family was rich. Miine's father never knew what was coming, when Ringo Ishida suddenly asked her hand in marriage. Her father was fooled into believing that the Ishida boy was a son of a family who ran a business company, but Miine was the only one who knew the truth about him. He lived in a large estate all right, but his family did not do business to keep their land, but owned a large club, for both homosexuals and straight people. Miine knew that her father did not approve of such business, however her father, blind for Ringo's actual intention, agreed to have his daughter married to the 'rich' Ishida boy. Miine refused, but her father declined her refusal and physically forced her hand into Ringo as he popped the question. Miine had no choice but to take the proposal, but one night, after they got married, the girl of sixteen years of age ran away. Far away from the man who had accomplished his goal- to be part of the Kuramae family estate and still fooled her father. That's when she met Ayame Sohma, nineteen, who owned a clothing store that Miine eventually fell in love with when she was hired by him as easilly as her trying to remove herself from her marriage with Ringo.   
  
Riiiinnng!  
  
The girl jumped, taking her mind off of her past and back into reality. Did she hear the phone ring?  
  
RRIIIINNG!!!!!!!!  
  
There it was again. Miine got up and went to the living room where the phone sat still and noisy. She glanced at her watch... three o'clock in the morning. Who would call at this hour? she thought to herself.  
  
"Moshi, moshi," she spoke quietly, as she answered the cordless phone.  
  
"M- Miine?" came a deep voice on the other line.  
  
The girl immediately recognized her tencho's deep voice. "Tencho! Daijoubu-desu ka?"  
  
"Hai... Miine... I- I coudn't sleep."  
  
Miine sat down on the chair beside the counter and nodded, as if he was there watching her every move. She sighed, thinking that Ayame couldn't sleep either because of what happened. "Ayame-san... You couldn't sleep either because of that incident, ne?"  
  
"Maybe..." His voice grew quiet.   
  
"Tencho? Why do you think it happened?" She wanted to hear from his own view on why the kiss happened. Miine thought it was because her that led him to do it or just in the moment. They would have pulled themselves away from 'that moment' but none of them did. That was the question she wants to ask him. For a moment, the other line was quiet. Miine was afraid that Ayame had fallen asleep, but as he spoke again, she was wrong.  
  
"I don't know. I couldn't sleep and I needed to talk to someone."  
  
Miine's heart sank. Was he really talking to her so he could go to sleep or wanted to talk to her about the kiss? She was going to say something, when Ayame's voice interrupted her. "Gomen nasai, Miine. I don't know why I called you, but... I have to go... Bye." Before she could say anything, he had hung up the phone. Miine stared at the phone in front of her, disappointed. Why wouldn't he say anything about it? Why? She put the phone down on the counter and rested her chin on the table, hoping against all hopes that he would call back.  
  
An hour later, he didn't and Miine had already fallen asleep.  
  
GoodGurl: Awwwww, it must be hard for Ayame to talk to Miine, now that 'something' happened between them. What does this mean? Does it mean that Ayame has feelings for her, or is it something else? o_O Questions questions....and what about Miine? Will she be able to stop Ringo from doing something horrible for her dear tencho? Hee hee! Stay tuned! 


	4. Happy Life

Note: OMG! Aren't I such a horrible update writer? !! SOOOO sorry you guys! Seriously I didn't mean for it to take THIS long of a wait! OO! Anyways, I hope I get more reviews on this soooo here it goes! Oh yes, I don't exactly know WHEN Ayame and Miine's birthdays are so I'll make them up but please don't sue me!!! Oh yeah, I don't remember what Tohru calls Miine or what Miine calls Tohru so if I'm wrong please don't sue me on that either! I haven't seen the anime for a while!   
  
Chapter 4 – Happy Life   
  
Sunshine took the toll in the already July heat that came earlier in June. People around her began to moan in frustration, complaining about the weather as she begins her day at the shop, but Miine wasn't complaining. It was a good day to go to the beach after all and celebrate her and Tencho's birthday.   
  
"Ah! Miine-san!" The girl with glasses looked up and fixed her glasses on top of her nose. The source of the voice was indeed Tohru Honda, the brown haired girl who gave her the idea for the beach in the first place. She explained to her the other day that her, Kyo and Yuki were planning a trip to the hot springs for their birthday, but she called this morning to tell her the day was going to be beautiful. As soon as Miine heard this, she packed her mini backpack with sunscreen lotion, snacks (in case she got hungry), extra slippers (in case she lost the pair she was wearing in the water) and changing clothes (just in case they plan on going somewhere after).   
  
The younger girl approached her and gave her a hug before saying, "Everyone is waiting for you! But before we get going…" Tohru removed her back pack from her back and began to fish through it with her hands. "Ah!" she exclaimed, startling Miine. She pulled out something from her bag and handed it to her.  
  
Miine was surprised when she glanced down at it. "A….a swimsuit?"  
  
Tohru blushed. "Well hah hah! It's my present to you…Actually it's a present from the three of us."  
  
"The three of you?"  
  
"Hai!" Tohru gave a smile and a sort of embarrassed look on her face. "Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun didn't know what to get you so I told them I would get your present and we split it fifty fifty!" She adjusted her backpack on her back and continued to smile, but then it faltered when she noticed Miine looked like she was about to cry. "Dai-daijoubu-desu-ka, Miine-san?"  
  
"Oh…hai!" Miine smiled. The older girl unfolded the newly bought swimsuit and lifted it up in front of her. She blushed a little when she realized it was a two piece dark blue swimsuit, the bikini part falling out of her hands and onto the ground. Miine didn't mind wearing this kind of thing, but then again she was going to be with the other Sohma family members, most of which she hasn't even met yet. She gave the swimsuit another glance from front and back. The swimsuit was indeed revealing from both front AND back. 'Oh dear,' she thought.  
  
"You…you don't like it?"   
  
Miine looked up and noticed that Tohru seemed quite hurt by what she was doing. She gave the younger girl a shake her head and a reassuring smile. "I didn't say I didn't like it Tohru-chan! It's lovely and it was very thoughtful of you to give me a swimsuit this beautiful! In fact, I was going to get myself a new one since my old one shrunk. Either that or I'm just gaining weight! HAH HAH!"   
  
Tohru laughed with her, which gave Miine the impression that she wasn't offended any longer by what she had. She gave a shrug, smiling and glancing at the swimsuit in the older girl's arms. "I thought it was beautiful too and I realized it suited you so I bought it! It was odd though…Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun didn't even WANT to see the swimsuit and-!" She paused when a hand reached out to block one eye, pulling her gently to the side. The young girl looked up to see Kyo looking down at her, quite annoyed, but from what Miine could see…he was more worried than anything.   
  
"Oi! What's taking you so long to meet me up at the bus station?"  
  
Tohru looked up, sweat pouring down the side of her face. "Gomen nasai Kyo-kun! I guess I got too caught up with the swimsuit I gave Miine-san that I wasn't paying attention to the time."  
  
Kyo sighed, turning around and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Well everyone else is already there so we should get going."  
  
"Kyo-kun?" Tohru called.  
  
The orange haired young man stopped walking and looked over his shoulder. "Nani?"  
  
Tohru smiled, wrapping an arm around Miine. "Aren't you going to say 'Happy Birthday' to Miine-san?"  
  
Kyo glanced at Miine and turned away, blushing. "Happy Birthday…" he mumbled. "Now let's go." He began to walk away, faster than his normal pace. Miine could see he was embarrassed to be saying such a thing, adding the fact that he probably remembered the little bit about the present they gave her. "Ah! Matte!!!!" Miine snapped out of her reverie and looked up at Tohru ran to catch up with Kyo. When she did catch up with him, it surprised Miine that Kyo moved his hand to reach for hers and the younger girl took it without hesitation.   
  
"AH! I was beginning to feel worried that you abandoned me, Miine!" Ayame's voice was above everyone else, a tone in which Miine could pick out from the crowd if they all yelled at once. She was used to his voice and it was about the only thing, apart from Tohru, that calmed her nerves.   
  
Miine gave her Tencho a sweet smile.  
  
"KAWAII!!!!" a melodious, child-like voice spoke. Miine looked down and noticed a little boy with blond hair and bright blue eyes staring up at her with a smile. He tugged at her skirt and said, "Neechan! Ayame-kun has told me all about you, but I never imagined you to be so pretty!"  
  
Miine blushed. "A….arigatou!" She gave him a smile and patted him on the head. "And you are one of Tencho's cousins, correct?"  
  
The little boy took a few steps back and nodded, his cute smile never fading. "Boku-wa Momiji-des! Nice to meetcha!" He held out a hand for her to shake and Miine did so, surprised at the softness of his hand.   
  
Miine gave a short laugh. "Nice to meet you too, Momiji-kun!" Momiji was indeed a cute little boy, but at once, when Kyo had told her he was a year younger than himself, Tohru and Yuki, she was quite surprised.   
  
The day had been quite interesting. She had finally met the rest of the Sohma family. Miine was actually looking forward to guessing which animals they would turn into and the one, whom she favoured out of all of them the most, was standing amongst his good friends, Hatori and Shigure. He had caught her attention when he suddenly glanced her way and smiled, giving her that reassuring look to give her confidence. He hadn't forgotten what she said about being nervous to meet with the family and in fact, Miine found it quite refreshing. Ayame Sohma's family was fun to be around, despite the constant bickering, especially between the very violent looking girl named Kagura and Kyo, whom she felt bad for when she began to beat him senseless until he could no longer move. Poor Tohru was trying her best to keep him away from her and it ended up into a whole big argument when Yuki, Hatsuharu and Shigure joined in.   
  
"Miine-san!" Tohru suddenly spoke from beside her.  
  
The older girl turned her head at the younger teen and smiled. "Hai?"  
  
Tohru stood up and offered her a hand. "Would you like to go for a swim with me? I want to show Kyo that I can swim now!" There was confidence in her voice as soon as she said these words and the first one to notice that was Kyo himself, who turned and watched the younger girl with much interest. Miine wasn't quite sure whether Tohru noticed that look or just didn't see it at all.   
  
The older girl took her hand and stood up. "Sure!"  
  
"Ja, let's go!" She let go of Miine's hand and turned and ran to the water. Miine, confused about Tohru's gesture ran after her, yelling 'cheater!' Tohru giggled as she made it to the water first, followed by Miine who slightly blushed when she realized that all the men were looking at her. "Tohru-chan?" She took a step forward Tohru.  
  
"Nani?" Tohru spoke, looking at her curiously.  
  
As soon as Miine took another step to whisper in her ear, she heard the sound of something snapping behind her. Miine gasped and stared at Tohru. "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Miine-san? Daijoubu?"  
  
Miine nodded vigorously and leaned deeper into the water until it reached the bottom of her nose. "Tohru!!!!" She gestured with her hand to come nearer.  
  
"What is it? Is something wrong?"  
  
"Yes," Miine whispered, her face turning into a crimson red. "My….my strap broke on my swimsuit. The back part is now missing and if I move anymore, I'll be completely…naked…"   
  
Tohru gasped. "How did that happen?"  
  
"I…it's been a long time since I had that swimsuit…maybe three years now so it must be because it's old and I've gained weight since then…." Miine moaned, burying her face deeper into the water.  
  
"Miine-san!" She reached out for her hand, forcing her to go back up into the water, but the older girl slapped her hand away and lifted her head back up.  
  
"Don't….this is so embarrassing!"   
  
"Don't worry! I'll go get help and-!" she gasped when Miine grabbed her arm.  
  
"NO!"  
  
"Nani? Doushite!? You can't just stay in the water all day!"  
  
"Yes I can…"  
  
Tohru sighed. "That's ridiculous! You can't do that! Everyone else will be worried about you!"  
  
"OI!" someone called. Tohru looked up, while Miine slowly turned to see who was calling them. It was Ayame and Miine felt even more redness flowing on her cheeks at the thought of her walking around naked while Ayame watched her. "Are you girls all right there?"  
  
Tohru nodded. "Ah! Hai! Daijoubu-des! Don't worry about us right now Ayame-san! Miine-san and I are just…having a little girl talk!"  
  
"Souka…Well, we're going to be eating lunch soon so hurry back!"  
  
"Hai! Arigatou!" The younger girl looked back at her, sweat pouring down at the sides of her face, pondering on a solution with this little problem. "Hm…………Ah! Souka! I'll be right back!" Tohru turned and began walking away.  
  
"What? Where are you going?" Miine asked worriedly, watching as the girl didn't even answer. She watched her go, leaving her alone in the water, only her head showing in the surface.   
  
"Tohru-kun? Is Miine-neechan all right?" Momiji asked, looking at the girl. She was found rummaging through Miine's things, throwing aside her sunscreen, her towel and finally her slippers when she found what she was looking for. "Tohru-kun?" When she didn't answer, this gave all members of the Sohma family their undivided attention, especially Ayame, who was glancing from Miine into the water, with only her head showing, then to Tohru, who grabbed a swimsuit from Miine's pile of clothes and began to head back to Miine.   
  
"Tohru-kun!" Ayame called, grabbing her arm. "What are you doing and why is Miine just standing there in the water?" He nodded to Miine, who was only standing there, doing nothing.  
  
"Eto…well…she um…" She couldn't take it any longer. She HAD to tell someone or she would go insane. Tohru was never the type to lie and even, Kyo and Yuki knew that. Well, it didn't harm anyone to let only Ayame know…after all, he is Miine-san's tencho and good friend! Tohru sighed and leaned towards Ayame's ear to whisper Miine's predicament. When she was finished explaining, Ayame just turned calmly, grabbed his own towel and began marching in the water, towards Miine. "Ano….Ayame-san?"  
  
Ayame turned to look at Tohru and smiled. "Daijoubu Tohru-kun!" With that said, he continued to walk into the water, wearing his swim shorts, while holding up the towel to keep it from getting wet. Miine's back was to him so she couldn't see him approaching. "Are you all right Miine? You must be cold just standing there," he finally spoke after watching her.  
  
Miine gasped and jerked herself around. "TENCHO! What-? Where is Tohru?" She blushed even harder at her Tencho's site…wearing no shirt, but with only his boxer shorts.   
  
The white haired man didn't answer instead he approached her, opening the towel in his hands wider. "Well? Are you going to accept my offer in helping you out of the cold water and back to the surface? Or are you going to refuse me and let you wait another minute for Tohru?"  
  
Miine hesitated for a moment, trying to rethink his offer over and over again. She was indeed freezing from head to toe, but then again, she wouldn't want to feel uncomfortable in his presence. But then again, why WOULD she feel uncomfortable towards him? The image of their lips touching together flashed in her mind. The brunette blushed again. "I am of course irresistible," Ayame spoke, grinning after a few moments of silence. "But even with the offer I gave you, I can't leave a girl in the cold…" He approached her and before she had a chance to protest, Ayame wrapped the towel around her and made sure he wouldn't make contact, concealing the areas where the straps broke. "Come on, they're waiting for us." The white haired man said, his hair tied up into a neat ponytail. He grabbed her hand while she held on for dear life for the towel that was around her chest with the other and he led her back to the surface. "See? That wasn't so hard," Ayame said, smiling, turning around to face her. "I don't know why you didn't ask any of us to help you."  
  
"Because…." Miine buried her face in her hands and blushed some more. "Because it's embarrassing TENCHO!"  
  
"Hahahahaha," Ayame laughed. "What is there to be embarrassed about? You have a beautiful figure and any man would want you! Ne, minna?" Ayame glanced over his shoulder at the men present in the family and received nods from his question.   
  
Momiji was the loudest to answer. "HAI! Miine-neechan is VERY cute!"  
  
Even that comment didn't give Mine the confidence she needed. She kept her face buried in her hands, still embarrassed to look at everyone. Ayame turned to look at her and placed a hand underneath her chin and forced her to look at him. "Miine…"  
  
Miine looked up and stated into his golden eyes.   
  
"There really isn't anything to be embarrassed about! Momiji is right! You ARE cute and I meant what I said that ANY man would want you!" He placed a hand on her cheek and stared back into her eyes, smiling reassuringly at her.  
  
"My, my! What's this, a party that I wasn't even invited in?" The voice sounded cold that even Miine knew that the shivering in her spine wasn't the water from the ocean. Everyone had gone silent and Miine noticed that Ayame's eyes had turned alert and….afraid?   
  
It was Tohru who spoke first. "Oh! Akito-san! What are you doing here?"  
  
Miine glanced over Ayame's side to see a young man, who looked a bit older than Yuki and Kyo approaching them. He had his hands stuffed in his jean pockets and he walked in even, calm steps towards Ayame, who seemed to move right in front of Miine as if protecting her. Akito gave Miine a cold, menacing look as he walked by them. He stopped at the very edge of the beach and stared out into the ocean. "And you chose a good spot for a party too! I am impressed!"  
  
It seemed Tohru was the only one confident enough to speak and Miine wasn't sure why everyone else weren't talking to him like she was- as if…as if they were afraid of him. Ayame stood there, his hands still grasping both Miine's shoulders and she could tell he was tensing up a bit at this young man's presence. "Tencho?" She looked up at him. "Daijo-"  
  
"Isn't it wonderful to be together again?" Akito said, interrupting Miine's words. At this time, the young man with the dark hair turned, his eyes now focused on Miine. Miine felt that slight chill down her spine as her eyes too began to focus back on Akito. "And oh I didn't know we had company other than Tohru…May I ask about your name, Ojousan?"  
  
"Watashi-wa-Kuramae Miine-des," she answered in a slight, scared tone.  
  
"Souka," Akito said, giving her a smile. For some reason, that smile gave more shivers down Miine's spine. Ayame took a step forward, blocking her view of the young man, but said nothing to him. "So she is a friend of yours Ayame?"  
  
"………."  
  
Akito sighed and approached them again, walking pass Ayame towards Miine. He placed a hand on her cheek and caressed it. The dark haired man leaned over her right ear and whispered, "You, just like Tohru will be very sorry if you ever interfere with our lives." He pulled away and with his other hand produced the glasses in which he put on her face and adjusted slightly before walking away. Miine turned, adjusting her glasses again and watched Akito disappear like a shadow in the sunlight.  
  
"Miine," came Ayame's soft whisper. "Daijoubu-desu-ka?"  
  
The brunette looked up and nodded. "Hai," she replied. She tried to smile, tried to take a deep breath from the fear she was feeling right now, but Ayame wasn't fooled. He could see through her false mask that was Kuramae Miine. She…out of everyone there right now…was frightened beyond anything else.   
  
No one spoke a word after that; afraid that if they said anything, it would result with more anxiety amongst the family, but Tohru wouldn't have that kind of attitude. She wouldn't dare let anyone feel terrible about what happened this afternoon because it was, after all, Ayame and Miine's birthday. "Ne, minna! Why don't we go out and eat lunch?"  
  
"Ahahahahaha! Good idea Tohru-kun!" Ayame said, letting go of Miine's shoulders. "First, Miine I think you should go change. You don't want to walk around holding a towel around you, do you?"  
  
Miine blushed and laughed. "Hahahaha of course not! I think I better do that now." She turned and left towards the direction of the hotel they were staying in, but not before she grabbed her stuff from the beach.   
  
"I'll go with her!" Tohru decided and follows Miine.  
  
"We'll meet you at the front gates of the hotel!" Shigure yelled after the two girls. When he was sure they were out of earshot, the dog jyuunishi turned towards the snake and looks at him. "Are you sure she's going to be all right, Aya?" There was a serious tone in his voice, in which Shigure rarely put up front with the rest of his family.  
  
Ayame didn't look at him as he continued to watch the path in which Miine and Tohru took back towards the hotel they were renting for the night. "No matter how you look at it, Miine is a very strong person just like Tohru-kun."  
  
"Demo Ayame…" It was Hatori's turn to talk now. "She's the second person to know of our secret, what do you think Akito will do now? It was different with Tohru because she was the only one and now…with another person…Akito will find another excuse to maybe harm Miine. Are you going to let that happen?"  
  
"Of course not," was Ayame's reply. "I'll make sure it doesn't happen. AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Look at us all serious! Come on, let's grab our stuff and go back to the hotel so we can change into better clothes!" With that said he grabbed his stuff and led the way back to the hotel, no matter how much Hatori and Shigure wanted to ask Ayame more about how he felt about this.  
  
"Ne, Tohru-chan?" Miine spoke as she slipped one arm through the sleeve of her burgundy tee-shirt. She looked over her shoulder at Tohru, who was also changing into her casual clothes.   
  
"Hai?" Tohru said, looking up.   
  
Miine turned back around; her eyes now focused at the wall in front of her and slipped her other arm through the sleeve of the shirt. "Who was that man earlier?"  
  
Tohru was silent for a while until after a couple of seconds, she finally said, "His name is Akito Sohma…he's the head of the Sohma Family."  
  
"Souka…so THAT'S Akito." After putting on her shirt, she slowly began to slip on her khaki coloured pants in which there was a drawstring at the bottom to adjust the legs at anytime. "Why…why was everyone silent when he came? Tencho seemed…frightened. Did I do something wrong?" She finally turned around to face Tohru after putting on her pants and sat on the bed.  
  
"No of course you didn't do anything wrong!" Tohru replied, giving her a reassuring smile. "It's just that…Akito-san has had a…reputation of being…violent towards even his family." Tohru recalled in her mind about what happened about two summers ago when she finally confronted Akito.  
  
Miine's eyes widened. "Nani?"   
  
The younger girl began to fold her wet clothes and hung them on some hangers they provided in the hotel. "Demo, he's all right now. I'm sure he won't harm anyone any longer." She glanced at her watch around her wrist and gasped. "Ah! We should get going. I'm sure everyone else is waiting for us right now!"  
  
Miine nodded. "Hai." She stood up and slipped on her slippers and followed Tohru downstairs and then they reached outside, just as Tohru predicted, they were all there waiting for the both of them near the front gate. Ayame was dressed in a white turtle necked short sleeved shirt and black faded jeans. His hair was as usual tied up in a pony tail behind him, which, Miine realized, made him look a lot more attractive without it falling behind his back to make him look a lot more feminine than masculine. But then again, Ayame's femininity looks was actually the only thing that made Miine attracted to him.   
  
"Oh! Fashionably late, as usual Miine!" Ayame commented, winking at Miine.  
  
Miine laughed. "Gomen nasai, Tencho!"  
  
"Well it doesn't matter now. We don't really have time to chat amongst ourselves. We have lunch reservations down at Couleur Bleu," Hatori spoke in a stern, gentleman-like tone.   
  
Ayame wrapped an arm around Hatori and began to stretch the older man's face, forcing it to smile. "Mou! Tori-kun is ALWAYS such a stiff when it comes to being on time! SMILE Tori-kun! Smile!"  
  
Hatori frowned, slapping Ayame away from him gently. "Go away."  
  
"Can we go now?" Kyo said in a very bored voice.  
  
The lunch ended up being dinner by the time they got there. The owner of the restaurant made an error in their reservations and, too proud to admit to his error, the manager decided to put them into the dinner reservations. Hatori with a calm, polite attitude, disputed with the manager that they HAD reservations for lunch in the restaurant, but Kyo, who couldn't hold his patience any longer, yelled at the manager and DEMANDED to be let in. It took Yuki, Shigure and Ayame to hold the impatient cat away from strangling the manager half to death. Angered by the attack, the manager decided to book them five hours earlier than they intended, leaving most of the Jyuunishi members agitated.   
  
"I can't BELIEVE THIS! BAKA NEKO!" Yuki yelled, glaring at Kyo once they were out of the building.   
  
"Urusai!!" Kyo replied.   
  
"Who are you to tell me to shut up!?" The young man with the curse of the Jyuunishi rat stepped in front of Kyo, his veins basically showing around his forehead. "YOU'RE the reason why we have to wait five more hours to eat!"  
  
"ME!? It's not my fault they're BUSY you annoying RAT!"  
  
"DON'T TALK TO YUKI-KUN LIKE THAT!" Yelled the one named Hatsuharu or Haru for short, glaring daggers at Kyo. This resulted in a fight between the cow and the cat, but oddly enough, the cat had one the fight. Miine thought the cat would lose again seeing as how he'd always lose to Yuki.   
  
Miine watched in both fear and amusement as the three continued to argue, when she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder. The brunette girl looked over her shoulder to find Ayame smiling down at her. "Do you want to go do something on our own?" He had leaned down now to whisper in her ear, while everyone else were too busy trying to break up the fight between the cat, the rat and the cow.  
  
That question surprised Miine and the brunette found herself blushing (seriously not like her). "Um…what do you mean, Tencho?"  
  
Ayame laughed. "Ahahahahahaha! Miina!" He turned to face everyone else. "Miine and I are going to go for a little alone time if you don't mind!"  
  
"You mean…on a date Aya-chan?" Shigure replied, with a grin on his face.  
  
The white haired man only laughed and grabbed Miine by the hand. "Ahahahahahaha! You could say that! Miine and I haven't been on a date before and I'm sure it will be fun since it's my lovely assistant after all!"  
  
Miine couldn't help but laugh. "You are right Tencho! Maybe we can find someone from around the street to model for our dresses, ne?"  
  
"Ahahahahahaha! Maybe, Miine! He will be a man with a great taste, but we do have many lovely young men in our family who I'm sure would be willing to—" And as soon as he said those words, most of the young males in the family, except for Shigure and Hatori, had disappeared.  
  
"Ore?" Tohru looked around. "Where did they all go?"  
  
Kagura and Kisa waved as Ayame and Miine went on their way. "Bye you two! Hope you have fun!" The girl with the curse of the boar yelled after them.   
  
"Aya-chan! Why are you cheating on meeee!?" Shigure yelled after them. A drop of sweat fell from the sides of Hatori's face. "Could you be less loud, Shigure?"  
  
No one could tell. They didn't need to know, but Miine was having the time of her life. She has never been this out in the streets for a long time, especially with someone as special as her Tencho. Ayame, with his usual attitude about life, was very much enthusiastic about their walk. Miine just watched as her Tencho went from store to store to examine all the clothes and compared them to his store. He was much impressed with their style and Miine wasn't bored at all. She was never bored around her Tencho and never unhappy. It was only the time that she was forced to marry Ringo did she feel the happiness fading away from her. She didn't want to go back to the life she grew up in. She would rather stay in this life…this life she knew now. This life with her Tencho.   
  
"Miine! Come look at this!" Ayame waved for her to come to him and Miine complied and approached her Tencho with a full smile on her face. Of course, there were times when she was happy during her childhood. She had everything any girl would have dreamed of; a nice house, nice toys, nice swimming pool and a nice nanny who dearly loved her like she was her own daughter. But deep down, Miine was never happy. When she was old enough to understand the meaning of love and marriage and was old enough to be able to make her own decisions, her parents strictly forced her to meet this one young man around her age named Ringo. He was the son of a very rich businessman, who worked with her father and their mothers were best friends. She did her best to make her parents happy, but even then, it was never enough for them. When she told them she didn't want to marry because she didn't love him, they threatened to disown her. Miine wanted to be free. She wanted to make her own life, even if it meant abandoning her own family.   
  
"So? What do you think?"   
  
Miine looked up and watched as Ayame pressed a dress against her. She touched it with her hand and looked down upon it. It was beautiful indeed. It was a black, backless satin dress, with a wavy looking skirt. "It's gorgeous…" she whispered.  
  
"It's yours," Ayame spoke.   
  
"Wha-? What?" Miine was shocked beyond words. What did he mean by that?   
  
Ayame laughed. "You know you are very cute when you're shocked! Hahahahaha!" He took the dress from Miine's hands and handed it to one of the women who worked in the store. "Could you also add this as well, please?"  
  
The woman glanced at Miine and smiled. "This is a fine choice, miss!"  
  
"T-Tencho!!!" Miine exclaimed.  
  
The white haired man looked at her. "What?"  
  
"I can pay for this dress! You don't have to pay it for me!" Miine frowned.  
  
Ayame waved off what Miine said and continued on with his shopping. "Iiee, iiee! This will be my present for you!"  
  
"Demo, that means I have to buy you the same price as this dress and this isn't exactly cheap!"   
  
Her Tencho turned and looked at her. "You know what I really want for my birthday, Miine?"  
  
"Nani, Tencho?" Miine asked curiously, looking back at him.  
  
Ayame approached her and untied her pigtails, her curly brown hair falling about her face. "I just want you to show up for dinner with that dress and see how you look like in it." He stared into her eyes, her green, mesmerizing eyes. She too, stared into his eyes, the golden eyes in which she wasn't used to staring for so long.   
  
The woman who had taken Miine's dress came back a few seconds later, interrupting the wonderful moment between the Tencho and her assistant. "Are you two ready to purchase or is there more you would like around here?"  
  
The white haired man glanced at the woman and shook his head. "No that's all we're getting for today! Thank you so much for your help."  
  
The woman nodded and smiled at Miine before walking over to the cash register and began calculating the clothes Ayame purchased. Ayame and Miine joined her in seconds on the other side of the counter and patiently waited for the total amount. "Tencho, you didn't really need to buy me a dress."  
  
"Of course I do! Besides, you need a dress for dinner and it's a formal dinner!"  
  
"Demo…"  
  
"Daijoubu! Daijoubu!" He heard the woman speak out the total price and Ayame fished through his pocket and took out his wallet. The white haired man took out his debit card and slid it towards the woman with one finger gently. He didn't understand it himself, but he wanted to buy that dress for her. When he was sure Miine wasn't looking, he glanced at her and thought for a moment. True, he liked the way she looked now, wearing a cute baby blue tank top with a bunny drawing on it and white capri pants, but part of him wanted her to show a little more. That thought shocked him. 'Where on earth did I go on and thinking like that!?'   
  
"Sir? Here is your receipt," the cashier spoke, interrupting the white haired man's thoughts. She slid the receipt to him gently and put the clothes they purchased into a plastic bag.  
  
"Huh? Oh…arigatou gozaimasu!" Ayame gave her a smile, grabbed his card and the plastic bag. "Miine are you ready?"  
  
Miine was looking through some more dresses and when she heard her name being called, she glanced up and nodded. She followed her Tencho out the door and into the beautiful, cool night. It had already gotten dark and both of them had no idea that time went by so quickly. It was now two hours before their dinner.   
  
"Miine-san! Ka….kawaii!!!!" Tohru exclaimed.  
  
Tohru, Kisa, Kagura were all staring at her, with eyes glowing with surprise. They were all wearing formal dresses of course, but it was none compared to the dress Miine was wearing. It was quite plain, yet elegant. It was short, which showed Miine's legs. "Where did you get that dress?" Kagura asked.  
  
Miine glowed. "It was from Tencho. He bought it for me as his birthday present!"  
  
"Sugoi! I would love a boyfriend who knows how to pick clothes for his girlfriend!" Kagura replied, which made Tohru and Miine both sweat with nervousness. She glanced at them and gave them an odd look. "What? Did I say something wrong?"  
  
Miine shook her head. "Ahahahahaha! I am usually mistaken for that, demo, Tencho and I aren't in THAT kind of relationship!" She gave the girl with the Jyuunishi boar curse a reassuring smile.   
  
"Souka…" Kagura blushed. "How silly of me! Gomen nasai!" She bowed in apology, but Miine just shook her head and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You don't need to apologize, Kagura-chan!"  
  
"Ja…what kind of relationship do you have with Ayame-kun?" Kisa suddenly spoke up from where she sat on the bed she shared with Kagura.  
  
The two older girls stared at the eldest girl, obviously curious with the answer of the tiger's question as well. "Well…our relationship is that of a Tencho and her assistant! That's all!"   
  
Kisa just nodded, but Miine could tell the little girl didn't believe her. Of course, she shouldn't believe her. Part of her believed there was something more to that kind of relationship, but the rest of her was afraid to admit that there COULD be. Kagura and Tohru seemed to have believed the story, but that was only because they were both good at hiding their feelings. Miine could never understand what the older girls are thinking as she spends more time with them, despite Tohru being so transparent at times. "We better get going!" Tohru said enthusiastically. She clapped her hands together in excitement and opened the door and was shocked to find Kyo there, who was about to knock on the door. "Kyo-kun!" She examined him for a moment and was quite overwhelmed by how he looked. With a suit, Kyo Sohma looked quite…handsome. With that realization, Tohru blushed.   
  
Kyo opened his mouth to speak, but didn't have a chance when Kagura came charging out the door, tackling him on the ground and beating the crap out of him. Tohru could only stand and watch as Kyo struggled to get off the ground and run from Kagura. "KYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-KUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
All the boys were seated on their reserved seats in the restaurant, still waiting for Kyo to come back with the girls, or rather, with Kagura to come back with Kyo half beaten. They were all dressed well as most of the older men were clothed with suits, while the younger ones were dressed in nice polo shirt and trousers. Ayame was looking through the menu, deciding what to get, once in a while 'flirting' with Shigure. Hatori sat in between the two, calmly sipping tea. Momiji and Ritsu were chatting away, while Hatsuharu kept staring at Yuki. Hiro sat silently, brooding over some issues he had in his head.   
  
After a few seconds or so, Hatori put his tea down and looked around at the table and towards four empty seats. There was an empty seat in between Hiro and Hatsuharu, which would most likely be Kisa, two beside Yuki (Kyo and Tohru) and one beside Ayame (for Miine). "What do you think is taking them so long, Ayame?" For some reason, Ayame was the first name he thought of when Hatori asked that question.  
  
Ayame put down the menu and laughed. "Ahahahahahaha! You know those girls. They like to fix things up perfectly so they take their time!"  
  
Hatori lifted up an eyebrow curiously. "You spend more time in the bathroom than the average male AND female combined, Ayame."  
  
"Oh that is true! Hahahahahaha!"  
  
And just after Ayame's laughter died, the entrance door of the restaurant flew open, revealing a disheveled looking Kyo, who looked bruised and battered, followed by Kagura with her eyes that seem to reveal with relief (whatever the reason). Tohru, Kisa and finally Miine arrived. Ayame was the first one to recognize the dress Miine was wearing. "My! My! I picked the right dress didn't I, Miine!?" Indeed, the dress he picked suited her VERY well. The form of her figure showed so much and Ayame found himself glancing back at her for the second time.   
  
Miine smiled and nodded. "You certainly did, Tencho!" She sat down beside him as the empty seats were finally filled in.   
  
"You look beautiful Miine-chan!" Shigure commented.  
  
"Arigatou, Shigure-san!" For some reason, she could feel her heart beat when her Tencho looked at her. She didn't know WHAT kind of look that was, but any kind of look from Tencho was enough for her.  
  
"Did you see that, Ringo-san!? Boy has Miine-san changed!" Jou glanced at the man staring at the window of the restaurant. "Ringo-san?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah I saw what happened! You don't have to tell me twice!" He clenched his knuckles. 'You're going to be sorry you EVER left me Miine! Your precious Tencho will no longer be able to look at you the way you want him to! I'll make SURE of that!'  
  
"Ringo-san!"  
  
"WHAT!?" Ringo jerked his head at his companion, who was nervously looking down at his hands. The dark haired man glanced down and noticed that he was holding the camera in his hand and if Jou hadn't stopped him sooner, he would have broken it. Sighing, Ringo loosened his grip around the camera and stared back through the window of the restaurant where they could see Miine smiling and laughing away with her Tencho.   
  
"So what's your plan?" Jou suddenly asked.  
  
"We wait until late at night tonight and then…plan A will start." Ringo said eerily, smirking.   
  
GoodGurl: Ooooooohhhhhhhh I wonder what Ringo is planning! STAY TUNED! OH! Don't forget to review mmmkay!? 


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